Tag Archives: Simon Bisley

Mar 17 2013

Pretty Poison Ivy

When Scifi hubby calls me at work it usually means that something is wrong; the cat’s been sick, the dishwasher has flooded the kitchen, that kind of thing. So when he rang me at 3pm on Friday I was slightly surprised that he was excited to the extent he was almost hyperventilating.

I’m not sure what I expected him to be that excited about, winning the lottery or finding out his in-laws were coming to stay perhaps. It turned out that a new Simon Bisley piece of art had come up for sale and he was desperate to have it. Not exactly the ideal conversation to have in an open plan office.

We have some very good friends who run a great comic shop (Reed Comics) a small press comic and who are also friends with Simon Bisley. Biz had drawn a Poison Ivy piece for them a few months ago and we saw it when we last visited. It’s a lovely piece but they hadn’t put a price on it when we were there. Scifi hubby practically stalks their website so he saw it go live and called me instantly wanting to buy it. For once even he thought it might be a little too much money to spend without asking me.

In the end he persuaded me to let him call Reed Comics to see if they would hold it for us until we are next able to visit to pick it up. Thankfully they said yes – so he called me again as he bounced off the walls with excitement. He’s spent the last two days posting the piece everywhere online and telling everyone about it. He’s a bit like a puppy with a new toy.

I must admit it is a lovely piece. Although she’s naked (Simon doesn’t really draw women with clothes on) she’s not completely ridiculously proportioned and it’s a view from behind so not as much ‘detail’ as he often includes. There’s also a very sweet frog sitting on the log with her.

Now we just need to find somewhere to get it framed – and Scifi hubby needs to find a way to show his appreciation 😉

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Dec 25 2012

So what is Scifi hubby getting for Christmas?

I think Scifi hubby is hoping I might post what he’s getting for Christmas but he will just have to wait and see. We’re on a grown ups only Christmas so, despite the fact that its nearly lunchtime the presents are still under the tree – to be fair to everyone else this is mainly because Scifi hubby has only just emerged from under the duvet…

So instead of today’s presents I thought I’d tell you about Christmas from a few years ago…

Scifi hubby had seen a huge Batman statue based on Simon Bisley’s artwork that he saw online, bought and then told me it was my Christmas gift to him. It arrived a couple of weeks before Christmas and he laughed as I hid it away as, of course, he knew exactly what it was.

Simon ‘Biz’ Bisley is a hugely famous comic artist who we happened to make friends with a few years ago. What Scifi hubby didn’t know that Christmas was that I had contacted Simon and asked if he would sign the statue. I used to drive past Simon’s house every day on my way home from work so we agreed that I would stop by one evening and get the statue signed. Simon is one of the most disorganized people I know so I suggested that I could bring a blank Christmas card with me so he could send a card to Scifi hubby too.

I bundled the statue into the boot of the car and took it to work. Then followed a ridiculous week of actually trying to get hold of Biz whilst stopping Scifi hubby realizing the statue was in the car. Finally on Christmas eve Biz answered the phone and said he’d be at home if I came round. When I arrived his wife gave me a cup of tea and some Christmas cake whilst Simon nattered away and sketched on the base of the statue. He also produced a sketch he done that day of him and Scifi hubby dressed as Lobo and Batman (below). I couldn’t believe it. I’m not sure any Christmas present will ever top a sketch by your hero of you.

On Christmas morning all the presents were under the tree and Scifi hubby opened them all except the Bisley statue. The line “I know what it is so what’s the point” was heard until I actually had to threaten him to make him open it. I then had to get him to open the box itself which he really didn’t see the point of. Finally the penny dropped. His face as he realised that Simon had signed it was worth all the effort.

Slowly he worked out that meant I had seen Simon so I got quizzed to death. The icing on the cake was the final present I had hidden. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that. I’m not sure what I can ever get him for Christmas that will top that, although he’s still not forgiven me for having tea and Christmas cake with Biz with out him.

Unfortunately I don’t think I can pull the same rabbit out of a hat twice but fingers crossed Santa brings him some nice presents to make up for it.

Happy Christmas everyone!

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Sep 9 2012

Sometimes life IS black and white

Scifi hubby is a huge Simon Bisley fan. Bisley, also known as Biz, is a really famous comic artist and has worked on Batman, Lobo, Judge Dredd, Hellblazer etc etc. The first time we met Biz was at a comic shop in Beford. They were running a signing and we turned up really early. Biz, fairly predictably was really late (and drunk but that’s a story for some other time). Whilst killing time Scifi hubby decided to buy a statue of Batman based on a Biz drawing so he could get Biz to sign it.

Skip forward a couple of years and we were at a scifi/comic show in Milton Keynes called Collectormania. The convention had run for several years in the local shopping centre but that year it had moved to the football ground. As a result the con was actually pretty rubbish. They had fewer guests than normal and those they had were hidden away in tents. There were less stalls and less stuff to buy. However Scifi hubby still had the same amount of money burning a whole in his pocket…

At the end of the show he spotted a couple of statues from a set called ‘black and white’. Now I know that once Scifi hubby has three of something it becomes a collection so I know not to ever let him buy the third. Ironically collecting is quite black and white with him, he either has all of something or none. I had completely forgotten about the Biz statue and hadn’t really realised it was part of a series so didn’t think anything of it when he bought both. Until we got home…

Predictably the collection of black and white statues has now got a little out of control – in fact he owns all of the existing 44 black and white statues! Worse, they are still being produced and he’s still buying them. They are quite pretty so live in glass cabinets but he’s rapidly running out of room. Before you worry about the original boxes (like any true collector would), they are, of course, safely stored in several big boxes down the cellar.

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The Bisley Statue that started it all

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Just some of the collection…